wiltshire council human resources payment for acting … no 14 - payment... · wiltshire council...

DRAFT V.3 (incorporating changes from May 2011 SPC) – 04-07-2011

Wiltshire Council Human Resources

Payment for acting up and additional duties policy and procedure

This policy can be made available in other languages and formats such as large print and audio on request.

What is it? This policy sets out the way in which the council will make payments to employees who:

• act up – carrying out the full responsibilities and duties of a higher graded post either for some or all of their working hours; or

• carry out some, but not all, duties or responsibilities of a higher graded post for some or all of their working hours; or

• take on additional duties within their role;

on a temporary basis Who does it apply to? This policy applies to all Wiltshire Council employees (including schools) who are contractually subject to the terms and conditions of the National Joint Council for Local Government Services.

This is a harmonised policy and applies to both Wiltshire Council and ex-district TUPE employees. When does it apply? This policy applies when, at the request of their manager, an employee.

• acts up into a higher graded post - carrying out the full responsibilities and duties of a higher graded post for some or all of their working hours, or

• carries out some, but not all, duties or responsibilities of a higher graded post for some or all of their working hours, or


• take on additional duties within their role It only applies where such arrangements are temporary – for example to cover long term sickness, parental leave, specific projects or other short term requirements. When does it not apply? This policy does not apply if:

• an employee takes on additional duties or responsibilities to cover a period of planned leave of less than 4 weeks (for example covering their manager’s annual leave); or

• the change is for a fixed term period of more than 3 months (for example covering maternity leave). In this case the job should be advertised as a secondment in accordance with the council’s secondment policy; or

• the change is permanent. In this case the job must be advertised in accordance with the council’s recruitment and selection policy and procedure.

What are the main points? Acting up payments 1. Where you take on the full duties and responsibilities of a higher

graded post for a temporary period you will receive the difference between your current salary and the minimum spinal point of the new grade which would apply if you were appointed to the post on a permanent basis.

2. Where you are taking on the full duties and responsibilities of a higher

graded post for a proportion of your working week, payment will be made based on the percentage of your working week that is spent acting up into the higher graded post.

3. You will be paid that percentage of the difference between your current

salary and the minimum spinal point of the new grade which would apply if you were appointed to the post on a permanent basis.

Additional duties 4. You may be asked to carry out some duties in addition to your

substantive post for a fixed period of time.


5. This may be due to:

• An unexpected absence or vacancy within the team requiring you to take on some of the duties and responsibilities of a higher graded post;

• A one-off project or piece of work on top of your normal duties. 6. These duties will be evaluated to see if they make a difference to the

grade of your job. 7. To conduct this evaluation your manager will need to complete a

significant differences form which will be evaluated alongside your current job evaluation questionnaire.

8. Should the grade of your job increase because of the additional duties

you will be paid the difference between your substantive grade and the minimum spinal point of the new grade as a monthly additional duties payment.

9. Where you are taking on some duties and responsibilities of a higher graded post for a proportion of your working week, payment will be made based on the percentage of your working week that is spent undertaking the additional duties of the higher graded post.

Authorisation process 10. Prior to confirming any payment for acting up or additional duties the

manager must contact their human resources adviser to ensure the correct process is followed.

11. No individual should be involved in the authorisation process of a

payment for acting up or additional duties relating to themselves. 12. All payments for acting up or additional duties must be approved by a

service director and counter-signed by the appropriate HR business partner (or HR advisor for schools) on the acting up and additional duties payment approval form prior to the arrangement commencing.

13. In all cases the payment will only be paid for a limited period, whilst the

additional duties are being carried out. Normally payments will end after three months unless exceptional circumstances apply.

Payments 14. Acting up or additional duties payments are usually paid monthly as

part of your normal salary.


15. Payments are pensionable and subject to tax and NI. 16. Any payment will be pro rata for part time employees.

Ex-gratia and honoraria payments 17. There is no ability to make any ex-gratia or honoraria payment to an

employee for any reason.

18. All and any additional payments must be authorised in accordance with the procedure outlined in this policy

Roles and responsibilities Line manager responsibilities 19. To follow the managers flowchart – payment for acting up and

additional duties to ensure the process is completed correctly. 20. Where additional duties are proposed to complete a significant

differences form and submit this for re-evaluation in line with the job evaluation process.

21. Where full acting up on either a full or part time basis is proposed, to liaise with your human resources adviser to ensure the correct salary is paid.

22. To gain approval from your service director and HR business partner

prior to confirming the arrangement with the employee. 23. To write to the employee using confirmation of acting up payment letter

or confirmation of additional duties payment letter to confirm the arrangements and payment.

24. To submit the acting up and additional duties payment approval form to

the HR Payroll administration team. 25. To complete an extension to acting up and additional duties payment

approval form if the arrangement is extended beyond the original end date specified on the approval form.

26. To complete a cessation of acting up and additional duties payment form if the arrangement ends prior to the original end date specified on the approval form.

27. If it becomes clear that the arrangement will be a permanent

requirement, to advertise the post in line with the recruitment and selection policy and procedure.


HR responsibilities 28. To provide advice and guidance to managers on the application of this

policy. 29. To counter-sign all payment for acting up and additional duties

approval forms and extension/cessation to acting up and additional duties payment forms.

30. To undertake regular periodic reviews of all payments for acting up and

additional duties. Frequently asked questions Acting up FAQs 31. I have been acting up into a post for 3 months whilst the

postholder is off sick. They are coming back to work part time on a phased return – should I still receive an acting up payment during the phased return period?

If you continue to undertake the full duties and responsibilities of the higher graded role for part of the week (i.e. on the days that the postholder is not in work) you should receive a percentage of the higher salary to reflect this. Your manager should speak to their human resources adviser to calculate the payment you should receive.

Additional duties FAQs 32. How long will it take to confirm a payment for an employee who is

taking on some additional duties?

Unless the employee is taking on the full duties and responsibilities of a higher graded post you will need to complete a significant differences form and submit this to your human resources adviser who will check the form and forward it to the job evaluation team. It will then be scheduled for evaluation at the next available panel and the results will be returned to the human resources adviser as soon as possible after this panel who will communicate the results to you. This process will take a maximum of 4 weeks from the date you submit the significant differences form but is often much quicker.


33. I have been asked to take on some additional duties. However

after completing a significant differences form I have been informed that they do not make a difference to the grade of my job. Can I refuse to take them on?

It is normal for jobs to vary over time and it is expected that employees will be flexible and undertake additional tasks appropriate to their role. It is important that you discuss the additional duties with your manager and agree how these will fit in with your current workload and priorities. If you feel that the evaluation of the additional duties was not right you do have the opportunity to appeal under the Job Evaluation policy and procedure.

Equal Opportunities This policy has been Equality Impact Assessed to identify opportunities to promote equality and mitigate any negative or adverse impacts on particular groups. Managers will make any necessary adjustments to ensure that all employees are treated equally. Advice and guidance If you require help in understanding this policy you should contact your line manager or trade union representative if you are a member. If, due to the nature of your query, it is not appropriate to contact your line manager you should contact your head of service who will nominate an appropriate manager or colleague to help you. Further information There are a number of related policies and procedures that you should be aware of including:

• Recruitment and selection policy and procedure

• Secondment policy and procedure

• Job evaluation policy and procedure For further information please speak to your supervisor, manager, service director or contact your HR advisor.


Policy author HR Policy and Reward Team – (PM)

Policy implemented

Policy last updated June 2011


Template letter – confirmation of additional duties payment Personal and Confidential NAME ADDRESS DATE Dear NAME Confirmation of additional duties payment Further to our recent discussions I can confirm that, effective from DATE you will receive an additional duties payment of £ADD INFO per month (subject to normal deductions). I attach a copy of the approval form and significant differences form showing how this amount was calculated. This is in relation to ADD DETAILS OF ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES / DUTIES. This additional duties payment will end on DATE or This additional duties payment will be reviewed on DATE. If you have any further queries in relation to this payment please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely. NAME POSITION Enc. Payment for acting up and additional duties approval form Significant Differences Form


Template letter – confirmation of acting up payment Personal and Confidential NAME ADDRESS DATE Dear NAME Confirmation of acting up payment Further to our recent discussions I can confirm that, effective from DATE you will receive an acting up payment of £ADD INFO per month. This is in relation to you acting up to the role of POSITION TITLE, GRADE for all of your working hours. or This is in relation to you acting up to the role of POSITION TITLE, GRADE for ??% of your working hours. The payment has been calculated as the difference between your current spinal point and the minimum spinal point of the new grade spinal point at the bottom of the grade for the position you are acting up into. I attach a copy of the approval form showing how this amount was calculated. This arrangement will end on DATE or This arrangement will be reviewed on DATE. If you have any further queries in relation to this payment please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely. NAME POSITION Enc. Payment for acting up and additional duties approval form

wiltshire council human resources payment for acting … no 14 - payment... · wiltshire council...

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